


A Series of Locked Doors

by reliquiaen



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 06:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5995320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reliquiaen/pseuds/reliquiaen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's all a conspiracy. Orchestrated by Mari, typically. Apparently Valentine's week is the best time to try and set your friends up. By locking them in a... classroom? Okay Mari, whatever you think best. (AU, bc I am AU trash)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Series of Locked Doors

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is brought to you by Xairathan, our proud (and very patient) sponsor.

For years, Rei had always been quiet, reserved, not prone to outward displays of emotion; one of the side effects of growing up in the system no doubt. The few people who considered her a friend were used to it. Asuka had long been the most annoyed by her impassive nature, so very different from her forthrightness. Though they’d been friends long enough for Asuka to learn to live with it. She’d actually gotten quite good at reading the little ways Rei’s face changed.

That said, Asuka was utterly oblivious to the fact that Rei only ever _smiled_ at her. A little crinkling around the corners of her eyes, a compression of lips meant to keep them in a firm line rather than give in to the rise at the corners, a softening to her features. Rei did her best to keep it from happening, always wrestling the expression away whenever she felt it occurring. But sometimes, watching Asuka argue with Shinji or the way she stuck her tongue between her teeth while working on a problem in class… She couldn’t stop from smiling. It was odd, truly. Rei didn’t mean for it to happen, didn’t particularly enjoy it, didn’t know why.

It had been happening more the last year or so too. Much to her annoyance. At the very least, Rei considered herself lucky that no one else had noticed.

Which in hindsight was probably her undoing. She should know better than to speak too soon.

Mari was her downfall.

“What’s with that little smile, nerdrocket?” she called out as the lecturer was wrapping up class one afternoon. Shinji and Asuka were correcting Toji again on his ‘newlyweds’ teasing and Rei admittedly found it adorable. Especially the way Asuka went a red so vivid it matched her hair.

At the query from Mari, however, Asuka and Shinji stopped babbling and all heads turned to her. Rei blinked and immediately averted her gaze, twisting to stare out the window instead, her nose tucked down into her scarf. She did mumble a quiet ‘nothing’ in response, but likely no one heard.

“I think you’re delusional, four eyes,” Asuka retorted just short of tart. “Rei’s not big on smiling.”

And yet, Rei could still feel Asuka’s eyes on her. Even as the others all filed out for lunch, debating the effectiveness of Mari’s glasses, Asuka remained, dithering with her books as always. She deflected Toji’s wheedling with a well-practiced charm.

When the door clicked and silence finally descended, that was when Rei felt a warm hand settle not unkindly on her shoulder. Carefully, Rei looked back at Asuka, her frown-without-frowning making clear her confusion. Asuka just rolled her eyes.

“Come on, wonder girl,” she sighed. “Mari’s just a jerk. Nothing new.”

Somehow, whenever it was just the two of them, the bite disappeared from Asuka’s tone and the nickname never sounded like Rei knew insults could. It was soft, instead, without heat and yet still warm. Fond, was the word that sprang to mind.

Rei bobbed her head, gathering her things together for lunch. Asuka, as she often did, lingered by the door waiting for her. On the way down the hall towards the courtyard, Rei glanced over at her friend. “Asuka?” she asked softly.

“Yep.”

“Why does Toji call you and Shinji newlyweds?”

The red from before flickered across her cheeks and anger flashed in her eyes. “Because he’s a moron, that’s why.” Her gaze cut across to Rei for only the briefest of moments and once she realised that answer wasn’t going to be accepted she took a deep breath. “I don’t know. Because he thinks he’s being funny? Because he likes to torment us? Because he thinks we’re destined to be together? Who knows? It’s Toji.”

That time, Rei nodded. She still might not completely understand why Toji said it, but that was a better answer. “Asuka? Do you like Shinji?”

Asuka actually stumbled a little at that question. “What kinda…?” She sighed. “I guess. He’s my friend. I just don’t like him all the time.”

“Asuka?”

“You don’t have to precede every question with that, you know?”

Rei tilted her head slightly, watching Asuka’s face closely. “Are we friends?”

For a moment Asuka didn’t reply, but then she rolled her eyes, face breaking out into a wide smile. She bumped into Rei’s shoulder gently. “Duh. You’re my best friend.” Her voice sounded strange but Rei dismissed it.

“Really?”

“Yeah, obviously. As if any of those other idiots deserve to be my best friend.” Her smile dipped a little then. “Why are you asking? We’ve been friends for years.”

Rei only offered a little shrug, not quite sure why she was asking. “Just making sure,” was her chosen reply. It seemed most fitting.

Mari wasn’t with them in the courtyard, she had another class straight after their lecture, for which Rei (on this day) was particularly grateful. Sometimes Mari’s teasing rolled off her shoulders like water on oiled leather, but something about her comments recently had been making her markedly uncomfortable.

Even though she was missing, there were still four people waiting for them sprawled out on the steps of the amphitheatre. Rei’s brow creased ever so slightly as she took them in. Shinji, Toji and Kensuke were there, as expected, but the fourth body most certainly was not Mari. Not anyone she knew, how completely unexpected.

“Who is that?” she asked Asuka softly.

“Um… I don’t know.” She paused, frowning a lot more intently than Rei. “Hey, stupid!” Shinji looked up. Which, really, he probably shouldn’t respond to that. “Who’s this nerd?”

The unfamiliar boy, with tousled mousy hair and warm brown eyes, stood, extending a hand. “Kaworu,” he introduced himself with a pleasant smile. “I’m in Shinji’s Friday class.”

Asuka’s gaze drifted from his face to his hand and back again. She didn’t shake it. “Okay. Asuka,” she replied, pointing to herself, then to Rei. “Rei. We’re in Shinji’s Tuesday class.”

Kaworu laughed. “I can see that. I hope you don’t mind me joining you for lunch.”

“They don’t,” Shinji assured him. He turned pleading eyes on Asuka and she sighed.

“Fine. Whatever,” she grumbled, folding herself onto the stone steps. Rei just blinked at him before seating herself beside Asuka.

“You might even be in some of Rei’s classes,” Kensuke explained as if he were picking up the conversation from where it had been left before Asuka and Rei had arrived. Rei glanced at him curiously but his attention remained fixed on Kaworu. “She’s studying astrophysics too.”

Kaworu smiled at her. “Perhaps we’ll find out,” he suggested.

Rei didn’t know if she liked the sound of that or not.

 

* * *

 

“So it’s Valentine’s this weekend.” Mari’s words were blasé but calculated. As always.

Asuka sighed. “It’s too early in the morning for this, Mari.”

“It’s never too early. What are you and the little nerd doing?”

Pausing in the act of turning her laptop on, Asuka turned to regard her warily. There was a terrifying glint in Mari’s eyes. “What makes you think I have anything planned?”

Mari shrugged. “You and Rei always do stuff together. I thought maybe you’d be going out or something.”

“With Rei?”

“Yes.”

“On Valentine’s Day?”

“Correct.”

“You are psychotic,” Asuka decided.

Mari snorted. “Hardly. You totally have a huge crush on her. You should just bite the bullet and kiss her. Valentine’s is the perfect time for it. And I know you want to. Don’t lie to me.”

“I do not have a _crush_ on anyone.”

“You’re lying. I just asked you not to lie.”

“I am not.”

“It’s pathetic. You hang out with her all the time because you’re completely smitten but you won’t do anything about it,” Mari lamented. “It’s really lame.”

“Of course I hang out with her, four eyes, she’s my best friend,” Asuka scoffed, rolling her eyes, arms folding across her chest. Why that topic seemed to be so popular recently escaped her. “It doesn’t mean anything else.”

Mari clapped a hand to her breastbone. “I’m wounded, princess. I thought I was your best friend.”

Asuka’s mouth twisted up in a wry sort of smile. “Rei doesn’t call me names, doesn’t ask me on stupid dares. She’s nice.”

“The little nerd doesn’t _do_ anything,” Mari replied, laughing. “She just goes along with whatever anyone says.”

“Not _anyone_ ,” Asuka retorted, though the heat in her voice was mostly for show.

Mari looped her arm across Asuka’s shoulders, leaning in like she was about to share a terrible secret. “You’re just making my point for me, Asuka. You know that right?”

She huffed. “I am _not_ smitten with Rei, alright? And you can’t make me kiss my best friend, that’s weird.”

“I don’t have to make you,” Mari needled. “You _want_ to.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do _not_!”

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

“I am not!”

That back and forth continued until the lecturer and his lovely assistant arrived to start class. (Mari was quick to change gears then.) Much to Asuka’s chagrin.

 

* * *

 

Wednesday brought its own worries. Though Kaworu following Rei from their shared class to meet their friends for lunch was the least of it. Rei didn’t mind Kaworu joining them, really, he was nice enough and he seemed to really like Shinji. She thought perhaps Shinji needed a friend who wouldn’t tease him or call him names.

But no, the worries stemmed from what they found as they approached their usual space in the amphitheatre. Mari leaning forward, head together with Kensuke and Toji while Shinji sat beside her, face a brilliant scarlet. Rei had known Mari only a little while really, a few months, but that had been more than long enough for her to learn that this is what a conspiracy looked like. And Mari’s conspiracies were oftentimes worth worrying about.

“That’s a risky plan though, Mari,” Kensuke was saying as Rei and Kaworu neared. “What if we can’t lock the door?”

Mari waved his concerns away. “It’ll be fine, I know the TA for that room. She’ll help us out.”

Toji shook his head. “You know Asuka won’t go for–” he cut off abruptly when he spotted them approaching. “Oh, hey guys. Good to see you. How was class?”

“Acceptable,” Rei replied quietly, sinking down next to Shinji. “Whatever it is, Asuka won’t like it.”

Kensuke blinked, looking suddenly a little scared. Mari only grinned. “Surprise party,” she explained. “You can keep a secret, right, nerdrocket?”

“Asuka’s birthday was months ago,” Rei informed her flatly.

“It’s… belated,” Toji added.

Rei didn’t believe them. She kept quiet though all the same. It was probably best not to antagonise Mari in any way. Still, knowing something was going on twisted uneasily in her stomach. She hoped Asuka didn’t get _too_ mad about it.

“Are you sitting, Kaworu?” Shinji asked, sounding a little hopeful.

Kaworu shook his head, still standing where he’d been before. “No. I have a class in ten minutes. I just wanted to stop by and say hello.” He waved then, stepping back.

“Bye,” Shinji called after him.

They were all quiet a moment after that. Rei suspected they didn’t want to return to their previous discussion in her presence and that had left a vacuum of topics. And while she didn’t necessarily mind the silence, Mari especially looked wholly out of her depth.

So she murmured to Shinji, “You should ask Kaworu out.”

Somehow she couldn’t quite fathom, their silence seemed to deepen, becoming more profound. She looked up from her food and found Shinji’s face that glorious crimson colour again. The others were all gawking at her as if she’d sprouted a second head.

“What?” she wondered.

“ _Why_ would you say that?” Shinji spluttered.

Rei blinked, gaze flicking from one to the next of her friends. “Don’t you like him? Asuka said Valentine’s was this Sunday. Friends do things together on that day, don’t they?”

Mari rolled her eyes. “Of course. So typical,” she muttered.

“Dude!” Toji exclaimed, leaning over to shove Shinji in the shoulder. “Do you have a thing for Kaworu?”

Shinji’s reddening face was really the only answer he needed for that.

“Oh my god,” Toji cackled. “I guess I really do need to stop calling you and Asuka the married ones. Look at both of you with the hopeless infatuation thing, wow.”

Rei’s brow crinkled in a slight frown and something lurched in her stomach. “Both?” She found it rather difficult to believe Asuka wouldn’t have mentioned this to her.

“Wow, what did you do to Shinji?”

Speaking of; Asuka sank to the ground beside her, leaning across Rei’s lap to jab Shinji in the shoulder.

“He’s having a dilemma of the heart,” Kensuke laughed. “Regarding Kaworu.”

“No way,” Asuka gasped. “Seriously?”

Shinji made a strangled sound but no actual words.

“Amazing. You gonna do something about it?” she teased, still quite a bit closer to Rei than she needed to be, strictly speaking. Not that Rei minded, it should be noted.

“Ugh, you guys suck,” he grumbled.

“Aw,” Mari sang. “Look at all my friends with their pathetic crushes. And still, you’ll all be alone on Valentine’s.”

“Oh yeah, four eyes,” Asuka scoffed. “As if you’re any better with your _pathetic crush_ on our TA. Yeah, you’ll be alone too.”

“We’ll all be alone together,” Kensuke sighed.

“Excuse me?”

They all froze, looking around for the speaker. Asuka was the first to spot her and she burst out laughing. When Rei glanced up she found the assistant in question standing right behind Mari, bag slung over her shoulder, an expression of purest surprise painted across her face. Mari’s face had turned a shade to match Shinji’s.

“Oh my god,” she sighed, standing. “Hey… Yui. What’s happening?”

Yui smiled softly at her. “I got your email? I wanted to talk to you about it but I’ve been run off my feet today… Maybe we can talk over lunch?”

Mari blinked, and then beamed. “Yeah, sure, okay. Yes. We can totally do that. Absolutely.” She snatched her bag by the strap and hitched it up onto her shoulders. “As for you suckers,” she added, pointedly making eye contact with Asuka. Then she stuck out her tongue backpedalling away to keep up with Yui.

“Oh yeah, real mature!” Asuka called. “Damn her.”

Rei’s hip buzzed and she frowned again, turning her gaze down in confusion. It was Asuka’s phone that had beeped though. She shuffled a little away from her so she could retrieve it and read the message.

“Bloody Mari,” she grouched, slumping sideways into Rei. “She wants to know if we’ll be her guinea pigs tomorrow after our lecture.”

“Just us? What for?” Rei asked.

Asuka shrugged. “She wants to get our opinions on her presentation before she does it because apparently I’m,” she trailed off, holding up her phone so Rei could read the text. “I’m ‘an opinionated shit who doesn’t mind being overly critical’.”

Yes. That’s what it said.

“I can’t believe I’m friends with her,” Asuka sighed.

Honestly, Rei could hardly believe it either.

 

* * *

 

Apparently, they weren’t going to be in one of the library rooms for Mari’s practice presentation. Rei had no idea why or how, but she had somehow managed to get keys to one of the tutorial classrooms in C block. They had comfortable rooms, she supposed, but they were teaching rooms. It seemed sort of silly to pick a room that might have a class in it.

“Are you sure we won’t be in anyone’s way here?” Rei asked quietly as they wandered down the corridor towards the room.

“Nope. We’ll be just fine. No one is booked in this room for the rest of the day. Yui has the class tables for the rooms she’s in.”

“Ah yes,” Asuka drawled. “Yui. The cute TA. And how was lunch with her? You didn’t reply to any of my texts last night.”

“It was lunch, princess,” Mari replied drolly, though her face was slowly tinting a distinctive shade of pink. “Besides, we just talked about school work.”

“Oh sure. That’s all. Nothing else. No talk about meeting up again, no sad attempts at flirting.”

“Shut up. You’re one to talk,” Mari sniped. “Though yes, as a matter of fact, we are getting together for lunch on Sunday.”

“Good for you.”

Mari fired her a smug grin as she whirled to unlock the door. “Incidentally, at this point, I’ll be the only one of us not sad and alone on Sunday so… suck it.”

“You are insufferable.”

Mari’s smile never slipped even a little as she ushered them through the door. Rei went in first, Asuka seemed to want to continue glaring at Mari for whatever reason, but she followed. The classroom was only small, a few desks and chairs, one window set into the far wall, an overhead projector; standard fare. She supposed it was useful to practice presenting in an environment similar to the one Mari would actually be working with.

The door clicked behind Asuka as it swung shut, but it was the second, more final, click that prompted Rei to turn. Asuka was faster, already one of her fists smacked against the wood.

“Hey,” she hollered. “What the hell, four eyes?”

“It’s locked.” That wasn’t Mari’s voice. Actually it sounded a lot like Kensuke. Where he’d come from was anyone’s guess. Though given the conspiring of the previous day Rei suspected Mari hadn’t been alone in this plan.

“No shit, dipstick,” Asuka called, still banging with one hand and rattling the knob with the other. “Why?”

“We’re not letting you out until you woman up. Kiss her and I’ll unlock the door.” That was Mari’s voice, teasing and sing song as if this was some grand joke. “You know you want to.” Rei blinked. Whatever she was on about made no sense.

For a moment, Asuka was rendered speechless (quite a feat), able to summon only a series of incomprehensible splutters, her face turning an impressive shade of red. From anger, Rei presumed. She pounded the door again before coming up with a suitable retort. “Don’t be ridiculous. I told you I don’t.” (Ground-breaking.) “And how would you know if I did kiss her anyway? Are you pervs out there peeping?”

“Dude.” It was Toji’s voice that time. The single awe-struck syllable was accompanied by another sound Rei couldn’t place. Possibly him shoving Kensuke. “We’re not, but we totally should be.”

“Admittedly,” Kensuke groaned. “We didn’t think of that. But Rei will tell us. Right Rei?”

She blinked, and then blinked again when Asuka rounded on her. “Did you have something to do with this?” she demanded. Her tone wavered between furious and that strange softness she only ever used with Rei.

“No,” she replied quietly, shaking her head infinitesimally. “Of course not.”

Asuka’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but Rei had seen her threaten plenty of people in the past to know when it was hollow. This was fortunately one such instance.

There was a polite knock on the door. “Rei?” Apparently Shinji was out there too. “Promise to tell us? Mari has the key and she’s serious; she won’t let you out.”

“What makes you think wonder girl will tell the truth, huh?” Asuka called out, resuming her banging on the door. “She could lie and you wouldn’t know.”

“I do not lie, Asuka,” Rei murmured. Shinji echoed her sentiment a mere moment after that. Although Asuka already knew that. Rei stepped up beside Asuka, staring at the door as if she could locate each of the conspirators on the other side through sheer will power. “Would you please give us some space?”

There was the sound of Mari scoffing, possibly Toji muttering something horrible and then Shinji saying something hushed. About a minute later there was a _ping_ from Asuka’s phone. A message from Shinji that read, _We’re in the hall at the end of the corridor. You have five minutes. Then Mari’s coming back._

Asuka slammed her phone into her back pocket with arguably more force than was required. Then she punched the door for good measure. “Five minutes,” she grumbled, spinning with a huff. “What does that even mean? We have five minutes to stew? Great. Stupid Shinji.” She began to pace, six long strides across the room widthways to the window and back to the door. “ _Stupid_ four eyes!”

Rei tracked her progress with careful eyes for three round trips. Then tried, “Asuka?”

“I wonder if we could jump out the window?”

“We are four stories up,” Rei pointed out.

Asuka obviously wasn’t so much as registering Rei’s presence. “No, we’re too high. Though I suppose we could shuffle along the ledge to the next classroom over. It’s probably unlocked.”

“The windows will be closed,” Rei reminded her.

Asuka’s face scrunched up as she came to the same conclusion. Only staff had keys. And maybe Mari. She let out another pained groan and whirled again; knees bending, head tilted back, shoulders slumped and hands fisted at her sides. She really did seem as if this was the literal ending of her world.

To be honest, Rei didn’t see the big deal. One kiss to satisfy their friends’ weird social rituals and they could be freed. (She had a hunch that Mari was just messing with them because of the proximity of Valentine’s Day, but she could hardly be sure of anything when it came to that girl.) Regardless, it was a fairly simple request. If somewhat illogical. She’d ignore the strange fluttering in the pit of her stomach at the very thought of kissing Asuka; the way her heart did some biologically impossible flopping thing in her chest and her ribs felt entirely too small. If she examined that too closely it might become complicated.

Rei didn’t like complicated.

She tried again. “Asuka?” Again she was ignored. Or perhaps just unheard.

“We could always hide,” Asuka was saying, formulating some other plan. “And when they come back to check on us, we stay _real_ quiet. Once they think we’ve escaped somehow they’ll come in to check and we can slip out behind them! Oh but where would we hide?” Asuka sucked in a deep mournful breath and continued her pacing.

For her part, Rei exhaled; her lone concession to a display of frustration. Small spaces were fine, but being trapped? Not her speed. Especially not with such a simple resolution standing between her and freedom.

Instead of dithering about it anymore, she stepped away from the door, squashing down all the little flutters in her stomach at the thought of what she was about to do. Asuka didn’t spare her more than a passing glance until Rei intercepted her pacing. Rei placed one hand on Asuka’s hip as her friend tried to wriggle away from her. Instead, Asuka found herself backed into the wall, a look of wide-eyed confusion plastered across her face.

“Rei…?” she asked in a voice too small to be convincing. It didn’t sound like Asuka at all. “What are you…?”

She didn’t get to finish her question. Rei tilted up until her mouth met Asuka’s and her words cut off in a squeak as small as her voice had been. At first it was nothing, just lips brushing and Asuka’s eyelashes skittering across Rei’s cheek as she blinked. But then something changed. Rei wouldn’t have been able to describe it if she’d been asked.

Asuka’s mouth opened slightly, her soft exhale tickling Rei’s lips. Something tugged at the end of her shirt and it took Rei a moment to realise that Asuka’s hands were knotted in the fabric, tugging her closer subconsciously. Asuka’s head turned slightly and all the fight seemed to shiver free of her usually rigid posture with another sigh.

Truthfully, Rei wasn’t entirely sure what was expected from her or what Mari would deem acceptable. But when her tongue slipped between her teeth to trace Asuka’s lips there was no sound of disgust or anything to indicate Rei was doing something wrong. In fact, if anything, Rei was almost sure she felt Asuka tighten her grip on her shirt, attempting to pull her even closer. Rei didn’t think that was possible anymore. Though really, that whole prospect seemed increasingly unlikely the more she thought on it.

And perhaps now was not the time to be thinking about whether or not Asuka was enjoying this anyway.

She refocused her attention on how warm Asuka was pressed up against her, the way their mouths moved, gentle teeth on her lower lip, the sensation of cool fingertips curling around her hip bone. How she _felt._ That feeling was something Rei was so unfamiliar with and yet this was somehow comfortable.

Her heart thudded in that way she didn’t recognise. Like the tingling before a sneeze or a tongue stumbling over a new and foreign word.

In the end, she was so focused on Asuka that she completely missed the knocking on the door. It wasn’t until she heard Mari’s obnoxious voice calling, “Coming in, you better be decent!” that she remembered where she was and what was happening.

Rei stepped away from Asuka before the door had been unlocked; leaving her friend slumped a little against the wall with an uncommonly dumb look on her face. Eyes glazed over as she stared at something far away, fingers still bent as if they hadn’t quite realised that Rei was no longer there to hold on to. The only sound she made was a quiet, “Oh,” that might have just been a sigh. Rei ripped her eyes away as Mari stepped through the door.

There was a beat of silence. Mari’s eyes took in Rei and then slid over to Asuka.

“I kissed her,” Rei informed her in no more than a whisper. “I can go now?”

Mari’s mouth twitched at the corners before turning up into a proper smile. “I see that.” Rei didn’t wait for more to be said. She just edged past Mari and out the door to freedom.

The three boys were all standing in the corridor, waiting and Rei had the strangest sensation in her face. Blushing? She wrestled it down and moved to walk past them, more than ready to go about her day with no more to be made of the matter.

Kensuke didn’t let her. “So?” he asked in his incredibly cheery way.

Rei blinked at him but remained silent, trying again to get by.

“It’s okay, Kensuke,” Mari announced. “She’s not escaping or anything.”

That time, Rei managed to duck past without being stalled again and she didn’t stop until she reached the end of the corridor. There she paused, half around the corner but stuck in place. She twisted to look back and found Asuka staring after her, an unfathomable look on her face. Even from here Rei could see the colour in her cheeks, hair not quite in its usual perfect state. And for a long moment they held eye contact.

But then Toji must have said something and Asuka’s gaze turned back to the others. Her hands balled into fists as she shouted something back in his face, clearly angry about whatever he’d told her. She looked like a glorious cataclysm, hair flying as she hurled one of those fists at Toji’s stomach, voice echoing off the walls just faintly. And that odd twisting feeling returned to Rei’s chest, coiling into an impossibly small point yet putting too much pressure on her ribs to be contained.

She walked away.

 

* * *

 

Asuka didn’t meet her eyes again for the rest of the day. A first in their friendship.

It made Rei distinctly uncomfortable.

 

* * *

 

Friday morning, Asuka felt like a train wreck. Not in the sense that she was physically injured, more in the sense that she was all over the place, emotionally distraught and quite possibly about to have some kind of meltdown. As she stood in the doorway of her apartment, hand on the doorknob, for a long moment she considered not showing up to her ten o’clock tutorial (for which Rei would be present).

She’d been replaying the previous days’ events over and over in her head since it happened. The ghostly feeling of Rei pinning her against the wall, hands on her hips… Asuka couldn’t shake it. She had no idea _why_ , she’d been sure she could pretend it had never happened and move on. But the memory of Rei kissing her lingered and her pulse quickened every time it resurfaced.

She paused on the way to class to sigh heavily and look up at the clear blue sky. Her breath misted in front of her briefly before wisping away. Taking a deep breath, eyes sliding closed for just a little moment; she mentally braced herself for the day.

Maybe it wouldn’t be weird. Maybe Rei wouldn’t mention it and they could just go about their lives like it had never happened. Like Mari hadn’t trapped them in a room together and put conditions on their freedom.

Maybe Asuka could ignore that tiny warm feeling in her stomach. That strange _need_ to kiss Rei again. She didn’t. Absolutely not. That would be beyond awkward. Rei was her best friend. Nothing else.

Still, Asuka found herself hesitating again in the doorway to their tutorial room. She took a few deep breaths, trying to work all the anxiety out of her system before she went in. It would be fine; everything would be okay, nothing weird would happen. She and Rei had been friends since high school, they would survive this.

Stupid bloody Mari, making her life hard.

She didn’t want to kiss Rei.

Nothing bad was going to happen.

Asuka took one more deep breath and pressed the door handle down. Maybe she shoved the door inwards a little more violently than she needed to but she felt justified. Rei and Mari were both among those already present. They looked around when she entered and Mari directed that stupid smug smirk at Asuka. She’d left a space between her and Rei too, as usual. But today it seemed somehow different.

Rei, for her part, remained mostly expressionless. Which – while not unusual – didn’t help Asuka feel any better. There was that softening of her features though, same as always, her smile-without-smiling. Asuka’s heart did some odd sort of acrobatics in her chest and she sighed as she sank into the seat left for her.

“Good morning,” Mari chirped.

“Is it?”

Mari elbowed her in the ribs. “Cheer up, grumpy, it’s the weekend tomorrow.”

Asuka huffed and slumped across the desk. A moment later she felt a warm hand on her arm and it took a second to register that it was probably Rei’s hand. She rolled her head to the side so she could look at her friend.

“Are you okay?” Concern laced thickly through Rei’s tone.

She lifted one shoulder awkwardly. “Sure.”

“Is it still okay to work on our group project tomorrow?” Rei actually sounded unsure of the answer.

“Of course. My place or yours?”

On her other side, Mari snorted.

“Yours please,” Rei replied softly. “Would you like me to bring anything?”

“Just yourself.”

Rei bobbed her head and said no more. Which was probably for the best since Asuka had no idea how to act. She didn’t like the feeling, but wasn’t sure how to make it go away.

Besides, not a minute later the tutor came waltzing into the classroom with Yui on his heels. Mari spent the next hour going bright red every time Yui so much as glanced her way and Asuka made excellent use of all the ammunition.

 

* * *

 

“Asuka?”

She froze. Apparently Rei had been waiting for her at the door of her afternoon class and Asuka had no idea how to handle this information. Rei pushed away from the wall and wandered over to her and then past her. She pulled the door open, clearly waiting to leave.

As Asuka hesitantly stepped outside she asked, “Why did you wait for me?”

Rei arched a shoulder. “You always wait for me.” Such a simple reply. And yet so loaded at the same time. “Can I walk with you?”

“If you want.” She left unspoken that Rei didn’t live in the same direction; that she’d have to catch a bus. They both knew that.

Rei didn’t seem to mind, she fell into step beside Asuka as they crossed the street away from campus and headed down the footpath. For a long while they were silent, which wouldn’t bother Rei, but Asuka had always been one for filling quiet. Her mind always clamoured with nonsense during prolonged silences; overthinking things. Today’s topic was still the events of Thursday.

She couldn’t help but notice the way they walked so close together, the way her heart picked up its pace just a little. She couldn’t stop the memory of Rei grabbing her by the waist and kissing her like she’d been waiting for years to do it. And, god help her, she did want to do that again.

Hopeless.

She thought perhaps she should break that silence before it drowned her. But Asuka, in a shocking first, didn’t have a clue what to say. To her best friend.

“What happened yesterday?” Rei wondered.

Asuka just about tripped over a join in the pavement. “Excuse me?”

Rei blinked at her, expression honestly curious. “Yesterday,” she repeated. “Mari locked us in that room. Why?”

Her heart caught in her throat. “How would I know? She’s crazy.” Though Asuka couldn’t quite get the right amount of anger into her words. Rei was clearly dubious. She sighed. “I don’t know.” Only she did. “Because Valentine’s drives people to extremes?”

After another beat of quiet, Rei nodded as if she’d been expecting that. “Asuka?”

A wan smile flitted across her lips. “You know you don’t have to start everything with that, right?”

Rei’s mouth twitched up just slightly in response. “Are we still friends? After that?”

Asuka exhaled heavily, but her smile was more real that time. She hooked her arm through Rei’s elbow. “Absolutely. I’m not letting stupid Mari’s stupid prank deprive me of my best friend. Okay?”

“Okay.” Rei seemed relieved to hear it. Maybe she’d been worried too. Huh.

They stopped outside Asuka’s apartment building, looking up at the façade for a brief moment. Then Asuka looked back down and found Rei’s eyes glued to her face. Her breath hitched.

“Do you… um… want to stay for dinner?” she asked quietly.

Rei wavered. “No. Thank you. I don’t want to be out late.”

Asuka bobbed her head but didn’t step away. Rei slipped her arm free, and surprising Asuka completely, pulled her into a hug. Never had Rei been one for displaying an excess of emotion, but she held Asuka so tightly then that it was unexpected. But not unpleasant. Asuka tucked her face into Rei’s shoulder, keeping her nose out of the cold and for a good long moment they stood their wrapped up together. At least six or seven Mississippis.

Then Rei leaned away, that gentle smile curling her lips again. “I have to catch my bus,” she muttered.

“Let me know when you get home, okay?” Asuka felt her ribs contract painfully.

“Okay.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Asuka watched Rei head back along her street and then turn the corner to the bus stop. For no reason she could really ascertain, she stood there even after Rei was gone, staring in the spaces she’d been. It took her a little longer than usual to get into her apartment.

This was all too strange. She felt all twisted up on the inside, almost ill. But it wasn’t the same as being ill. Ugh.

She flopped onto her bed, too exhausted to even think about study or food. What the hell was wrong with her?

It wasn’t until maybe thirty minutes later that her phone buzzed and she rolled upright. The text was from Rei telling her she was home safe. A sneaky smile ghosted onto her face and when she realised it, she groaned and collapsed face first back onto her bed.

 

* * *

 

She felt marginally less like a disaster waiting to happen in the morning. Marginally. She still wasn’t entirely sure how she would be expected to behave around Rei. But Asuka supposed it was easiest to just assume how she _usually_ was would suffice.

Rei knocked on her door at precisely nine because she’s punctual like that. Asuka dithered for a moment before pulling the door in, to be greeted by Rei’s soft smile. As always. Nothing abnormal so far.

“Morning,” Rei muttered, stepping inside, bag slung across her shoulder.

“Yes,” Asuka replied a little absently. “Morning.” Rei gave her a worried look but didn’t say anything. “So did you find any useful information for this?”

Rei continued to watch her, concerned, for just a minute more. Then she nodded. “Yes, some. The criteria were frustratingly vague.”

“Okay…” She paused and then repeated herself. “Okay. Well let’s get this started then.”

Within ten minutes they had all of Rei’s printed notes spread across the living room floor. Asuka’s laptop was whirring painfully with all the windows she had open and the pair of them sat mired in the midst of it. A tiny papery Armageddon. And a few hours after that they really hadn’t made as much progress as their mess might suggest to the untrained eye.

“Asuka?” Rei murmured, shuffling through several sheafs of information. “I really hate group work.”

“Ouch, I’m offended.” Asuka laughed.

Rei’s eyes snapped up to meet hers, looking shocked. “I didn’t… mean that. But the tasks always seem designed to be more frustrating than solo assignments.”

“I know that, wonder girl,” Asuka assured her. “I hate them too. Though at least this time we don’t have any blisters with us.”

“Blisters?”

“They turn up after the work is done.”

Rei’s smile for that was just a little bit wider than usual and Asuka – for the first time in half an hour – felt her heart skip a few beats. It should’ve been so easy to forget that Rei had kissed her to escape that classroom. But apparently not. Especially not when every time Rei smiled Asuka wanted to kiss her again. It was god damn frustrating.

She ripped her gaze away, focusing once more on their work and trying to suffocate those squirmy feelings low in her stomach. But even though she was pretending to read the information on her laptop screen, she was still electrically aware of Rei watching her.

“I don’t regret it.”

Asuka lifted her eyes again to meet Rei’s face. “What?”

“Kissing you. I don’t regret it.”

Asuka’s heart imploded, little pieces tumbling between her ribs and organs to settle in her feet. “Um…?” was all she could muster in response to that. Asuka was like ninety percent certain her face had gone a shade of red that would do Mari proud.

Rei’s eyes never so much as flicked away from Asuka. They fell into silence, not the companionable kind Asuka had grown so used to since becoming friends with Rei though. Oh no. This one was charged, static. It was expectant. Asuka had a sinking feeling that whatever happened next would have some irrevocable impact on their friendship.

So no pressure.

Her heart skipped yet another improbable beat and she sucked in a slow breath. Then, doing something she was almost positive she’d later regret, Asuka leaned across their mess of papers until she was well and truly within Rei’s personal bubble. Rei didn’t say anything though, didn’t move away. Her eyes flicked to Asuka’s mouth and then back to her eyes so quickly it would’ve been easy to dismiss as imagination.

After another moment, Asuka tipped forward and pressed her lips very softly to the corner of Rei’s mouth. In response, Rei tilted her head so their lips met properly, hands reaching up to wind into Asuka’s hair. For one glorious moment they stayed like that.

And then (it was just typical really), the paper slipped out from under Asuka’s hand and she lost her balance. They both tumbled sideways, probably messing up their paper beyond help. But Rei was smiling, so wide there were teeth and everything. Asuka couldn’t get enough air into her lungs and her heart would’ve given horses a run for their money.

She’d landed a little awkwardly, sort of half pinning Rei to the floor beneath her.

“Ha,” she breathed. “Payback.”

Rei laughed softly. “Why? What was that for?”

Asuka leaned down further, kissing Rei very carefully. “I don’t know. I wanted to.”

“But you were trying so very hard the other day to think of a way out of that room that wouldn’t involve kissing me,” Rei noted.

“You’re my best friend,” Asuka told her. “I didn’t think kissing my best friend was well advised.”

“But you wanted to?”

Asuka took another deep breath. “Yeah. More than I thought I should.”

“So Mari was right?”

Asuka groaned, eyes rolling back into her skull as she flopped down beside Rei, head on her shoulder. “Do not ever say that again. Definitely don’t let her know. It’ll go to her head.”

“Okay.” They were quiet again. This time sans the electricity. “Asuka?”

“Yes?” she laughed.

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Sure. Any time you want.”

“That’s good.” As if she needed to prove that, she twisted until she could kiss Asuka’s cheek. “And Asuka?”

She hummed her reply to that, not sure she could manage words, eyes sliding closed.

“Can I come over tomorrow?”

“Why?” She lifted one eyebrow in askance.

“It’s Valentine’s Day.”

Asuka’s eyes shot open at that. “So?”

“Well…” Rei looked away. “I thought maybe… we could do something… together.”

She propped herself up on one elbow, beaming. “Like a date?”

Rei pressed her lips together. “Mm, yes.”

Asuka dipped down to kiss her again. Just because she could. “Alright. That might be nice.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

Rei smiled. And then it wobbled, and fell. “Are we um… doing any more work today?”

Asuka just laughed, settling back down beside Rei on the floor, finding one of her hands and winding their fingers together. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Good.”

So Mari wouldn’t be the only one with a date for Valentine’s. She could suck it.


End file.
